YUKARI DICLE HAVZASI'NDA AKKAD DÖNEMI'NE TARIHLENEN BIR YAPI: SALAT TEPE II A: 6

The Upper Tigris region has been archaeologically researched in the frame of the Ilisu Dam and HEP Project in the last decades. Following a gap of 100-300 years, the region has been resettled in the 23rd century BC. A building with high stone foundations constructed by large limestone blocks uncovered at Salat Tepe differs from the single-room dwellings with pebble stone foundations. The building is surrounded by narrow paths, and is associated with two mudbrick terraces to the south. The southern entrance of the building is marked by two rows of pebble stones on the southern terrace in Trench K11. A mud bank along the southern wall ends with a door leading to an entrance hall (L11/049/M). To the east of the entrance hall, another door leads to a room paved with white plastered mud bricks (L11/041/M). A plastered pit placed into this floor seems to have been used for placing a large vessel. To the west of the entrance hall, southern storages composed by two narrow (L11/046/M and L11/052/M) and one large (L11/066/M) units are accessed through a narrow corridor associated with a stone stairway. The westernmost storage room (L11/066/M) has an access through a double framed door to the corridor, and a door associated with a clay stairway at the western wall provides an access from the outside. The northern part of the building is composed by three rooms having access to eachother. The small room to the west (L11/123/M) has an arched doorway at the eastern wall, leading to another room with clay banks attached to its western and southern walls (L11/135/M). This room has an access to the north and to the largest room of the building (L11/125/M). The double framed door of the large room is "closed" by offerings in a later phase, forming a niche. The building seems to have suffered an earthquake and fire. The banks in Room L11/135/M may have been used for preparing food or for placing storage jars, and the plastered part for handling or storing liquids, though, a miniature vessel and a terracotta model of an oxchart found among the debris might also indicate ritual performance. The vessel stand placed into the floor of Room L11/041/M might have been used for storing water; however, the vessel might well have been a libation facility, associated with the terraces bearing various small shallow pits. Also the niche in Room L11/125/M might have been used for offerings. The building has an atypical plan for an interpretation as a temple; however, the layout of some tem